I followed the recommendation from the original poster and parked at the Randall's at 38th St. This worked out well, but I didn't care for the several-block stretch on Lamar, which felt unpleasantly exposed and hectic. Once around the corner and down along the creek, though, there were lots of cool, shady tunnels of green, and recent restoration work has added a bunch of nice natives, including bigtooth maples, Mexican plums, and a variety of oaks. I'll definitely come back here, especially in the summer.

The downsides are that it's a pretty busy trails--lots of joggers and cyclists--and the absence of bathrooms (that I could find, anyway). Next time, I'll start further south, probably in the parking area off Shoal Creek Blvd.

This trail is a great way for us Hyde Park folks to trek over to Zilker Park if looking to avoid roads. There are some nice off-leash dog areas and Pease Park in the middle! There are some parts that make it hard to believe you're hiking parallel to Lamar, and other stretches that feel veru urban. It's also bike-friendly, which is great! Worth checking out for sure.

South half
User: 2ws - 9/2/2013[View Log Page]Rating: Difficulty: Solitude:
Distance: 4.10 Miles
Duration: N/A
We did a round trip total 4.1 miles from the front doors of 360 Condos to the 24th st bridge. Mostly park and southern Shoal creek which could use with some more clean up. Kids playing in the fountain. Not too many bikers, really significantly less bike activity than Lady Bird trail. The trirock triathlon was going on. Stinky bats under the bridges.

User: ValEpiscopo - 6/11/2013[View Log Page]Rating: Difficulty: Solitude:
Distance: 3.50 Miles
Duration: 1 hour
Walked from north end for one hour. Did not get to Pease Park. Turned around and walked back.

Good hike if you don't mind bikes and dogs
User: cwlatapie - 2/23/2013[View Log Page]Rating: Difficulty: Solitude:
Distance: 8.00 Miles
Duration: 5 hours
Lots of bikes and Dogs. Pretty clean in most areas. Takes you right into downtown Austin, I like to hit a few spots before the hike back.

Trailhead at 38th to Pease Park
User: jar935 - 2/5/2013[View Log Page]Rating: Difficulty: Solitude:
Distance: 3.00 Miles
Duration: N/A
Have walked this section before and enjoyed it. Decided to do a leisurely night hike and sit and read along the way (Kindle for iPhone--can now read in the dark! Hurrah!) Started right at sunset after eating a delicious cheeseburger at Top Notch burgers, spent a few hours strolling and reading. Used iPhone as a flashlight two or three times for creek crossings or uneven descents, just to be safe, but could have done without as terrain is all pretty easy. Very dark under bridges but I hummed a little tune as I approached so as to warn homeless people camping under them that I was coming. I did not want to shine a flashlight in their eyes so did not use it. Had to keep an eye out behind me for cyclists since I was not very visible and they were not expecting me, but all went quite smoothly and was very pleasant.

User: jar935 - 2/4/2013[View Log Page]Rating: Difficulty: Solitude:
Distance: 2.50 Miles
Duration: N/A
Started at Pease Park near my condo and hiked South to Lady Bird Lake with my Mom. She recently broke her foot, and cannot handle difficult terrain--only problem was one water crossing where we had to step from boulder to boulder, but she was fine in the end. The water in Shoal Creek was kind of stagnant and gross. Frankly I prefer the north end of the trail, but there were neat sections and it got less crowded as we went South (starting at Pease it runs close to Lamar and is quite noisy). Sharing the trail with cyclists was occasionally harrowing (narrow, blind corners) but would have no problem if hiking solo--walking and talking side by side made us a hindrance! Trail closed near the lake, diverted to Butler Trail. Pleasant overall, will hike again.
I have no idea if it was really 2.5 miles; I'm totally guessing.

Shoal Creek 32nd-45th
User: arokitz - 1/27/2013[View Log Page]Rating: Difficulty: Solitude:
Distance: 2.00 Miles
Duration: 2 hours
I parked off 31st and Lamar (plenty of parking on the side of the road in a nice neighborhood). The trail entrance is marked very clearly and you can either head south toward town lake or north toward 38th street. I went north.
It is a nice hike with a mix of solitude, urban surroundings, and residential neighborhoods. You can forget you are in the heart of Austin at times and then come around a bend and boom it's 38th street. But that is what makes this hike great!
Overall it is a very nice hike and trail. Unfortunately, there is some noticeable trash buildup along the creek throughout the hike. Feel free to bring a trash bag to help keep Austin beautiful while on your hike. 2 birds,1 stone.
Also, there is a ton of history in this brief section of shoal creek. There are informational stands on dinosaurs, floods, and the original settlers of the land. I found it very interesting to read about such a robust history of a small piece of earth, while standing on it.
I highly recommend this hike for anyone looking to switch things up from town lake/zilker/ or just get out there.

Coppertone and I decided to take a walk along Shoal Creek since we were in the area this evening and I noticed I had not yet logged a hike here. This is one of those trails that has some great segments and some not so great segments. The lack of rain lately has made for some stagnant pools instead of a creek along its path.

We are still feeling a little sick, but wanted to get outside and exersice a bit. This walk fit the bill perfectly! We parked in the back of the Randalls on 38th and walked down to 15th Street and back.

A couple of notes:

Going south, the walk on 31st Street seems longer than it should be. Just keep going and you will see the sign for the trail right before Lamar. That next segment is pretty awesome.

There is a bathroom just north of 15th Street... thankfully!

It is very interesting how this trail can go from complete solitude to the middle of a park.

Today (12/31/10) was the last day that the Pease Park disk golf course was open. So, it was PACKED with people playing one last round!

Interesting trail in the sense that some parts are great and some awful. Starts with a nice park and a bridge on the old alignment of 35th street. Then you must exit and walk on a street. Then you find the best part of the trail (as mentioned in the writeup). Then it is still pretty nice and pease Park is okay, lots of frisbee players. Not very great after 15th. Erica liked some of the downtown building you see from below but there is a lot of trash and its not a very nice trail. Could be, if they kept up with it. Since the writeup just above every water crossing has been bridged and my shoes never once got wet. This trail would be better served if you biked it, not much for hiking really. I could justify 3 out of 5 for the nice parts but the run-down parts soured me a bit. It runs next to Lamar almost the whole time so very loud and lots of people.

I grew up playing at Pease Park, so I have a sentimental attachment to the place. That being said, you have to have a high tolerence for trash, transients, muddy trails and dogs to really enjoy this walk. Despite its weaknesses, it is a pretty impressive stretch of path in the middle of a busy cityscape. Trying to maintain a highly used park and path is nearly impossible and this place is used by lots of people.

The walk from Windsor (24th) to 29th is a no-leash zone and the dogs are plentiful. I was walking on a muddy day and acquired lots of muddy paw and nose prints on my pants, so if you aren't a dog lover, watch out for this section. The path is easy to walk and sections of it are paved. Many people use this trail for jogging, biking, walking and frisbee golf. Don't go here if you are looking for solitude. If you do want some privacy, stick to the part north of 29th, that trail is not as popular.

Went from 38th to Town Lake
User: figment - 5/11/2003[View Log Page]Rating: N/ADifficulty: Solitude:
Distance: 4.00 Miles
Duration: N/A
The City of Austin is working on improving this trail between Pease Park and Town Lake, and some improvements are finished. The area from Seaholm Power Plant to Town Lake is nice wide pavement. We only had a small part of the creek to go through that wasn't on a sidewalk. There is lots of new construction between 9th and the Lake, and this could develop into a very nice area if someone cleans up the creek and the brush along the banks, and the wide sidewalk is developed.

No leash dog area
User: Eveline - 9/22/2001[View Log Page]Rating: Difficulty: Solitude:
Distance: 6.20 Miles
Duration: N/A
I walked with my small dog and found out that this area was leash free. We had a couple of incidents where big dogs dashed up growling, but luckily no one got hurt. Don't recommend taking your pet on this hike.